Monday 9 September 2013

No such thing as a free lunch!

We are on holiday in Bude and en route to the Eden Project. I was therefore amused to receive a text from a potential applicant for T&M as follows:

"Hi Andrew, I understand that you are on holiday in Cornwall. I actually live at Bodmin. If you would like to meet up for lunch, let me know. Perhaps we could chat about the forthcoming selection in T&M. "

Readers won't be surprised that I have declined the offer! 

What I find most odd is the person clearly reads my blog and should therefore know that I am not seeing any applicant personally, but have produced a briefing note which is available to anyone who wants it. Perhaps they think that my refusal to accept hospitality may only apply in Kent and that my position will change as I am on holiday! Or perhaps they think I am so poorly paid and destitute that I would be willing to leave my long suffering partner behind, drive for an hour, for a free Tiddi Oggi and a conversation about work!

Had I been in this particular candidate's shoes and felt the need to make contact, I probably would have do so a little more sensitively. How much better would it have been to send a message on the following lines, "I hear you are in Cornwall. If you are here to the first time you might like to visit (x y z) and the following restaurants are really good..... perhaps when you return to work we could have a phone conversation about the selection?"

Part of me admires their initiative and upfront approach,  but there are limits! 




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